Eleven's Hour
by Lily Short Stuff Uchiha
Summary: Eleven's hour is over now. The clock is striking twelve's.


_"And now it's time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven's hour is over now, the clock is striking Twelve's." -Clara Oswald _

This would have been it. But he wasn't so lucky. The man with so many companions who always felt alone. He couldn't believe that he had come this far just to be told he would continue to live. He just wanted it to end. He was ready. At least, he had fooled himself into thinking that he was. To be honest he was never ready for the regeneration process. It wasn't painful, thank god. No, it wasn't pain that he felt. It was numbness. A numbness that would drive a human crazy. A numbness that only Time Lords could truly withstand. Or maybe that was just another lie he liked to tell himself, he couldn't tell the difference anymore. Sadly he hadn't been able to tell the difference since the Time War. It was quite possible that he had gone mad after twelve regenerations, but that was alright with him.

He knew what he needed to do. For Clara, and Martha. For Donna and Jack. Micky and Rory. Amy. River. Rose. For the Daleks and Cybermen. For the Master and himself. Only Clara would be there, his last companion. But she would accept it for them all, because that was Clara. She was sarcastic and funny. She was kind and caring. She would understand and accept. She would help him in his time of need. That was more than he could ask of anybody, yet she took it all in stride.

Clara walked into the T.A.R.D.I.S. slowly, a concerned look on her face. But of course she was concerned after what had just happened. What a mess he had made of everything, but that was okay. He walked up to her carefully. She smiled and laughed.

"Doctor." She said, wanting desperately to know that everything was alright.

"Hello." The Doctor said, trying to avoid the question he heard in that one word. He couldn't answer, not yet.

"You're young again. You're okay. You didn't even dent your face."

"Whole new regeneration cycle... ooh!" You could laugh at the custard drinking "mad man" but everything he did was a part of him. No matter how strange.

"Taking a bit longer." He paused. This was it. The thing that he had to do. For himself, and his family, even for the ones who hated him. It was time to do this and he hoped to Gallifrey that he did it right.

"It all just disappears, doesn't it? Everything you are, gone in a moment like a breath on a mirror. Any moment now, he's a coming,"

"Who's coming!?"

"The Doctor."

"But you're the Doctor."

"And I always will be. But times change and so must I. Amelia!"

"Who's Amelia?" Clara asked, looking around, trying to see the girl that the Doctor seemed to hold dear to his hearts. She had heard the name in passing, but that seemed to be how the Doctor talked about all his previous companions. If she had to guess, she would say that it helped him from feeling lonely. A man can only take so much. Even if that man happens to be a Time Lord.

"The first face this face saw." He said with a smile. He remembered that moment quite clearly. He would never forget it. The crazy man with the smoking box, that somehow had a pool inside the library. She took him in and unknowingly became a very important person in his life.

"We all change, when you think about it. We are all different people all through our lives and that's okay, that's good. You've got to keep moving so long as you remember all the people that you used to be. I will not forget one line of this, not one day, I swear. I will always remember when The Doctor was me..."

He had said it. But, there was something missing. Wait, there it was. Amelia Pond. She was walking down the stairs towards the man she had grown up dreaming about. Clara was trying to see whatever the Doctor was seeing, but she couldn't. She also couldn't help but cry at the look of pure acceptance on the Doctor's face. She didn't understand what was going on, but she wasn't an idiot. She was brilliant and it wasn't hard to figure out. Or maybe she just didn't want to figure it all out. It wasn't an easy thing to accept. But at the same time she realized that accepting was what she could do for the Doctor. She tried her hardest to be what he needed her to be. She was in the middle of it all and couldn't comprehend all the emotions she was feeling.

The Doctor watched his Amelia walk up to him and smile. She had always had such a beautiful smile.

"Raggedy man." She said, putting her hand on his cheek as he did the same to her. He wasn't sure what he expected her to say to him next, but it wasn't what she said and he couldn't have asked for anything better. As usual she said the one thing he needed to hear from her. The one thing that would make this situation better if not make it okay.

"Goodnight." She said and that was when he felt it. The piece that was missing. He was actually ready now. This was no lie to himself to say that he could get through this. It was his Amy supporting him along the way, that was how he continued farther into the unknown. With Amelia Pond holding his hand through it all.

That was how he had the strength to take off the bow tie and drop it to the ground.

"No! No! No! Please don't change!" Clara said, just barely getting the words out. She reached for his hand, he reached for hers, he leaned his head back...

_Eleven's hour is over now, the clock is striking Twelve's._


End file.
